Simon got out of the cab at the entrance to Pinelands Mall, finishing his text to Ian as he walked. Following up on the story. Will update soon. There’s definitely something here. His eyes narrowed as he considered how to end the text. Should he acknowledge the tension between them? Should he apologize for being completely neurotic the last time they saw each other? Never mind, he thought, Zuko deserved all of his attention. He had to make things right and help Zuko to stand up to the residence and the way he was treated. Jeremy had seemed so shaken, like he really thought that Zuko was in danger, and the look in his eyes had scared Simon.
Strangely enough, Simon also felt a sense of exhilaration, like he was investigating a story really worth following and actually using his skills to help someone who needed it. He would tell this story. With Ian. And they would do their darnedest to ensure that no one had to go through the humiliation that Zuko went through again.
Simon found the coffee shop where they had agreed to meet. Nestled in a quiet street, with the entrance flanked by low-hanging cedar trees, the spot was discreet and not frequented by students. Simon accepted the menu from the hostess at the entrance, and sat down in a darkly lit corner. Simon’s mind and heart raced with conflicting emotions as he wrestled about how best to approach Zuko’s dilemma. He hoped Zuko would arrive soon to assuage his fears.
Simon had a lot on his plate, from pining over Ian, to feeling judged by Olivia for being so anxious about saying how he really felt, to feeling like a failure over not helping Zuko when he really needed it. And then there was Margeaux clamoring for the editor job once Ian stepped down. Simon tried to quiet his mind and scanned the room again to see if Zuko was arriving. He glanced at his phone; Zuko was late. A message tone sounded then and Ian’s name appeared on Simon’s screen. I will be in tomorrow and then we can work on it together. Good job, Northbrook!
Talk? Would they just be talking about the story, or did Ian want to bring up what happened between them?
“Deep in thought I see?” Zuko’s voice boomed over Simon. He was smiling broadly, again wearing one of his signature floral shirts and reached out to hug Simon enthusiastically. Simon got up, suspicious of Zuko’s jovial attitude, but reluctantly returned his hug.
“It’s good to see you. Sorry if I’m a bit late, I just had a bit of a wardrobe malfunction. More accurately, wardrobe indecision! How are you?”
Zuko’s cheeriness was unnerving to Simon. Why was he acting like nothing was wrong? Simon gave him a confused look and said, “I’m fine, Zee. But I know you’re not. I spoke to Jeremy this morning.”
Zuko looked at Simon, and his expression fell. He sat down at the table, propped his fist onto his cheek, and wearily eyed his friend.
“Is he okay? I wasn’t ready to talk to him yet.”
“He’s okay. He’s worried about you. He told me what happened, or at least he told me everything until you were dragged out of the room. What did they do to you? Why did you say you can’t tell me what’s going on? Are they forcing you to leave Ridgemont?”
Zuko sat still for a moment, his eyes nervously darting around the room. His lip started to quiver, and in a shaky voice he said, “Why must you put me through all of this again, Simon? I’m trying to move on with my life. A bad thing happened but I am strong enough to just move on.”
“I want to help you. Ian thinks that this has happened to other people before at your residence. I can guarantee you that it will happen again unless we tell your story. Ian wants to help and so do I.”
Zuko’s face fell into his hands and he began sobbing. It was heartbreaking for Simon to watch, but he was glad that the façade of nonchalance was breaking.
“Poor Jeremy,” Zuko said between sobs. “He didn’t deserve all this drama. I should’ve known that taking him to my res was a mistake. They even warned me that I would face ‘consequences’ if I overstepped their boundaries. I didn’t want to cause so much trouble. But you know me, I have a flair for pushing back when I’m being bullied. I couldn’t just sit back and let them treat me like that. That’s what I was thinking when I took Jeremy with me to my room that night.”
Zuko dabbed at his eyes with a white satin handkerchief, his head bowed down. His eyes were red, but the sobbing had stopped. Simon reached out and took his hand. “Zuko, I need you to tell me exactly what happened. I want to take this further, confront management and the residence head, and write a story so that this doesn’t happen again.”
“No!” Zuko exclaimed, and stood up quickly, alarm tensing the muscles in his face. He was shaking, “You can’t do that. They made me promise. They made me sign a nondisclosure agreement. I can’t go back on it. I’ll get in a lot of trouble. I shouldn’t even be talking to you.”
Zuko turned on his heel to leave, but Simon stopped him. “Zuko, listen to me! If they harassed you, you have to make them pay for it. They can’t get away with this. I can write an anonymous story, leave out all of your details, and focus more on the previous case. We don’t need you to get into any sort of trouble. But I need to know what happened so that I can know what to look for when I’m researching this.”
Zuko sat down slowly and considered Simon’s words. After a moment of contemplation, his face lit up, and he excitedly exclaimed, “You know what? Screw it! I made a mistake agreeing to their terms. I don’t care what the consequences are. I don’t care what they do to me now. They took away my dignity. They need to take responsibility for what they did. How about those bastards ‘face the consequences’?” Zuko’s voice rose as he became exuberant at the prospect of standing up for himself, his chin jutting out and exposing his long neck.
Simon smiled, guided Zuko back to the table, and ordered coffee. Zuko took many deep breaths, and he nervously surveyed the room. “I wasn’t expecting my roommate to come home,” he finally said. “I thought he would be away for the night. But he came in and saw me kissing Jeremy. And then all hell broke loose. He called his friends. I told Jeremy that we should escape somehow. They had hurt me before, and that was only because of the way I dress and talk. Imagine what they would do to me for kissing another guy! I tried to get out but my roommate was already coming back with his friends. And that guy. The ringleader. The one calling all the shots.”
“Who was it?” Simon asked. “What did he make them do?”
Zuko hesitated again, but then he composed himself, and said with determination. Conrad Riley. Do you know him?”
“Professor Riley’s son? The Vice-Rector’s son? He was involved in this?”
“He was the one who targeted me first. That’s why I was so scared to talk to you, or to talk to anyone. I knew that he could make my life really difficult if I said anything. Ironic, hey, because he was already making my life unbearable.”
“What did they do?” Simon demanded, grinding his teeth.
“He told them to slap me. They all took turns, and called me filthy. Said I was a disgrace to their residence. They treated me like a dog.”
Simon instinctively hugged Zuko, and his heart was completely broken for his friend. He couldn’t believe that Zuko had to suffer like that, in Ridgemont University of all places. He knew that the University was considered conservative by most standards, but he never expected it to be this hard for people who were different. And what about Simon himself? He had been staying in the closet, too scared to hurt his chances of being editor or eventually being a successful journalist. Was he a part of the problem by letting his fear control his life?
Zuko spoke again, sounding like he was holding back tears, “When I complained, tried to take things further, they had me meet with a lawyer. He represented Conrad Riley and told me that they could offer me a comfortable deal, under the table, if I agreed to make this all quietly disappear. They paid my tuition at the college and arranged the transfer of credits. They even arranged for private accommodation for me, and gave me some money that I could give to my mother. I took their hush money, Simon. I just wanted it all to end.”
“They’ve done this before
, Zee. They use their power to abuse and then they cover it all up with money. We can make that change.”
Simon and Zuko spoke for what seemed like minutes, but was in fact hours, as Zuko vented his fear, hurt and frustration, and Simon become more and more incensed about what happened to his friend. Simon promised Zuko that he would make Riley and the others involved take responsibility for their actions. This was the kind of story he had always wanted to do – something that could really make a difference and change things for the better. He couldn’t wait to tell Ian about it and for them to work on the story together.
Simon rushed over to the office immediately after seeing Zuko, and went to his PC and the ‘Works in Progress’ folder. He wrote up the main notes from the story and everything he had learned so far about Riley and the history of harassment on campus. He rushed out of the office, his mind buzzing, and forgot to turn off his PC. On his way out he walked past Margeaux. He greeted her half-heartedly, and was grateful that she didn’t stop to make any snarky comments. Preoccupied, he whizzed by her. He had to get to Ian as soon as possible.
Chapter 13
Hot Off the Press (Ridgemont University Book 1) Page 14